UNION LABEL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dear CDG Members, In this age of Obama, there is finally hope that Labor issues such as improving and expanding healthcare, funding education, and passing the Employee Free Choice Act will receive the necessary national and state support needed to become reality. We union Designers must make our demand for positive change known. We cannot afford NOT to have a voice. IATSE Emeritus President Thomas C. Short said, “Until we get the money out of politics, we have to participate.” If Labor’s agenda is to have any hope of passing, we union members need to monetarily support candidates who will vote for issues favorable to Labor, plain and simple. The most cost-effective way to do so is to establish a political action committee (PAC) just as Locals 600 (Cinematographers) and 80 (Grips, Crafts Service) have done long ago. I am proud to say that the CDG Executive Board, followed by the General Membership on March 2, 2009, voted unanimously to establish the Costume Designers Guild Local 892 PAC, effective July 1, 2009. Dues will not increase. The PAC will be funded out of our current dues at a modest 50 cents per member per month (just as Local 600’s is). Thus, a total of $6 out of each member’s dues will fund the PAC annually. Separate accounting will assure full transparency. If the CDG, Local 892, makes any political contributions, it has to file campaign finance reports. If we don’t have a PAC, we still have the cost of filing the reports and must pay taxes on every contribution to a candidate or PAC that supports our candidates, at the highest corporate rate, namely 35%. So, with a PAC, we will actually save money. This money will be allocated just as any political contributions have been in the past, namely by Executive Board vote. There is no requirement that our PAC expend any specific amount in any year, so we have the ability to save money for when it’s needed most. Now, when issues of importance for IATSE members are at stake, Local 892 will be ready to join together with our fellow IA Locals in protecting future jobs and benefits for us and for our children. In Solidarity, Cheryl cdowney@costumedesignersguild.com
COSTUME ILLUSTRATION SELECTION FOR THE 2010 CDG DIRECTORY Illustrations for the 2010 CDG Directory must be submitted to the CDG office by Friday, August 28, 2009. • Please submit your illustrations in advance to the CDG office. • Illustrations should be vertical, horizontal images do not work for the directory. • All illustrations must be designed or illustrated by a CDG member, and they must be for Guild-covered work, no theatrical or private work. • Illustrations must be for produced work, film, TV or commercial design, etc. • Please bring your illustrations individually, not in your portfolio. • All work must be labeled with the designer, illustrator and project title. • If you are submitting several illustrations from the same project, narrow it down to your three favorites. • Only one illustration per project will be accepted unless there was more than one illustrator on the project. • You must have access to the original illustration or a high-quality digital file. Costume Designers Guild DIRECTORY OF MEMBERS
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The Costume Designer Summer 2009
Illustrations will be selected by the Directory Committee and the chosen illustrations will be announced at a later date.
ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Pat on the Back This is the time of year when we honor the work of our television designers. Four years ago, our President, Mary Rose, created a new exhibit co-hosted by ATAS (The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) and FIDM (The Fashion Institute for Design and Merchandising) to present the work of our current television designers and look back at some classic TV work. This event introduces the start of the Emmy season with a reception to honor Costume Design Emmy nominees. Each year, the exhibit becomes more spectacular and draws more and more attention to the art of television design. For many years, some considered TV design to be less important than film work. This exhibit puts to rest any implication of TV design’s being the “poor relation” in this industry. As the cable networks have expanded the scope and type of shows being aired on TV, the opportunities for TV design have expanded as well. The quality of our members’ work increases with each new challenge TV offers. Anyone who has worked in television knows the difficulty of producing costumes on a week-to-week basis. Most hour shows can have upward of 60–80 costumes each weekly cycle. The episodic schedule of a 7- to 9-day shoot requires our members to work at a furious pace. With shorter prep times and faster schedules our members are being pulled thinner and thinner. We all know the toll those 80-hour weeks can take when they go on month after month. I urge you to be sure to keep a running record of your weekly hours to submit to the Guild office. This is the valuable information that will help us to negotiate better conditions for our members. Each year when the fall schedule starts, I spend hours trying to track down who is doing each show. Did you know it is a requirement of membership to call in your work? Please give me a call and let me know what you are doing. I celebrate the work of all of our members and whether that elusive Emmy ever sits on your mantel or not, know that your work is recognized and appreciated by thousands on a weekly basis. In Solidarity, Rachael Stanley rstanley@costumedesignersguild.com
Thank you, Salvador Perez and the CDG Directory Committee If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at MrSalvadorPerez@aol.com
Summer 2009 The Costume Designer
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